Mahendra Singh Tikait (6 October 1935 – 15 May 2011) was an Indian farmer leader from the state of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, India. He was born in 1935 at village
Sisauli
Sisauli is a town and a Nagar Panchayat in Muzaffarnagar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on Muzaffarnagar district, Muzaffarnagar-Shamli district, Shamli border.
Geography
Sisauli is ...
in
Muzaffarnagar District
Muzaffarnagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters. This district is the part of National Capital Region.
History Medieval ...
of Uttar Pradesh. He was President of the
Bharatiya Kisan Union
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) (English: Indian Farmers' Union) is a farmer's representative organisation in India. It was founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh from the ''Punjab Khetibari Union'' (Punjab Farming Union) which became its Punjab branch. ...
(BKU). Mahendra Singh Tikait died in Muzaffarnagar on 15 May 2011 from bone cancer at the age of 75.
Tikait had become the ''
Chaudhary
Chaudhary (or Choudhary ; also: Chaudhuri, Choudhuary, Chowdhury) is a hereditary title mainly in South Asia, mainly used by Jats, Gurjar and Bhumihars. Chowdhury (Hindi: चौधरी/चौधुरी/चौधारी; Urdu: چودھر ...
Khap
A Khap is a community organisation representing a clan or a group of North Indian castes or clans. They are found mostly in northern India, particularly among the Jat people of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, but also amongst other states like Raja ...
, at the age of eight after his father's death.
In January 2021, Mahendra Singh Tikait's two sons organized a protest against new farm laws, with Naresh Tikait being BKU's chief and
Rakesh Tikait
Rakesh Tikait (born 4 June 1969) is a national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) from Uttar Pradesh, India.
Early life
Tikait was born on 4 June 1969 in Sisauli town of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He is the son of a prominent ...
its spokesperson.
Career
Tikait first became a significant figure in 1987 when he organised a campaign in
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar is a city under Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated midway on the Delhi - Haridwar/Dehradun National Highway (NH 58) and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is kno ...
demanding the waiving of electricity bills for farmers.
Boat Club Rally
Tikait's rally at Delhi's Boat Club lawns in 1988 drew nearly five
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...
farmers from Uttar Pradesh and occupied the entire stretch from
Vijay Chowk
Vijay may refer to:
People
*Vijay (name)
*Vijay (actor) (born 1974), an Indian Tamil actor
*Vijay (director), Kannada film director
Fiction
* ''Vijay'' (1942 film), a 1942 Indian Hindi film
* ''Vijay'' (1988 film), a 1988 Indian Hindi film direc ...
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
government bowed to his 35-point charter of demands that included higher prices for sugarcane and the waiving of electricity and water charges for farmers.
Lucknow, 1990
In July 1990, Tikait protested in
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
with over two lakh farmers, urging the
Government of Uttar Pradesh
The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...
to concede to the farmers' demand for higher sugarcane prices and heavy rebates in electricity dues. The then
Janata Dal
Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 ...
-controlled government accepted the demands.
Lucknow, 1992
In 1992, Tikait was back in Lucknow to stage a month-long sit-in
panchayat
The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...
in pursuance of his demand for writing off farmers' loans up to Rs 10,000. The same year, he launched a Farmers Land Compensation Movement in
Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...
, seeking higher compensation towards the acquired land of farmers.
Bijnore, 2008 - Remarks against Mayawati
Tikait was arrested on several occasions, the last being on 2 April 2008 for allegedly making derogatory caste-based remarks against the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati at a rally in
Bijnore
Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India When things were back to normal, Mayawati described Tikait, in a condolence message, as a "true and committed leader of farmers".
See also
*
Sharad Anantrao Joshi
Sharad Anantrao Joshi (3 September 1935 – 12 December 2015) was an Indian politician who founded the Swatantra Bharat Paksh party and ''Shetkari Sanghatana'' (farmers' Organisation), He was also a Member of the Parliament of India representin ...
*
Raju Shetti
Devappa Anna Shetti (known as Raju Shetti) ( mr, राजू शेट्टी) is an Indian Politician and former Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electo ...